American Handgunner March/April 2010 - Page 34

massad ayoob The homeowner and The Burglar: The graham/ChamBers shooTing situation: Youcomehometofindaburglarleavingyour householdingwhatyoubelieveisabagofyour loadedguns.Hereachesintothegunbagand accelerateshiscartowardyou.andyou’re armedwithonlyasmallsingle-shotfirearm. lessons: Noonecanbeexpectedtooutrunanonrushing automobile.Themostrighteousshootingcan betwistedagainsttheshooter…andsometimes, asinglesmall-boreshotisenoughifyouputit injusttherightplaceatjusttherighttime. It’s Sunday, February 18, 2007, noonish, and Terry Graham, a man approaching his senior citizen years, drives home alone from church to his ranch in southern Smith CountyoutsideofTyler,Texas.Ashepullsintothelongdrivewayleadingtohishouse, hecomestoastop:thereisanunfamiliarFordTaurusparkednearthebackdoor. It’satroublingsight.Terry’shomehasbeenburgledbefore.Heconsiderscalling911, butfrompastexperienceheknowsitwilllikelytakehalfanhourforthefirstsheriff’s deputy to reach this rural place. Besides, there’s a pond on his property, and he has given various friends a blanket invitation to fish, swim and picnic there. It would be embarrassingallaroundtocallthecopsonlytofindanunexpectedfriend. TerryreachesforhiscellanddialsthenumberofGuyOsborn,hisranchforeman,who lives nearby. Guy doesn’t know anyone with a white Ford Taurus either. Terry asks if Guycanmeethimattheendofthedriveway.And—almostasanafterthought,rememberingthepastburglaries—heasksGuytobringagun. Soon,OsbornarriveswithhissonJason,17.Hehasbroughttheonlyguntowhichhe has ready access, a New England Firearms single-barrel, break-open .410 shotgun. It’s asingleshot,ofcourse,andtheoneshellitcontainsismarkedWinchester,#7birdshot. Guy’s car and Terry’s move up the driveway until they’re near the house where they parkandcontinueonfoot. Theyseemovementinsidethehome. Now, obviously, it’s time for 911. Terry tries to dial it, but can’t get through. The phone’sinternalrecordswilllatershowwhy:hehasaccidentallypunched119instead. Contact Terry can now see the back door of his house is open. Suddenly a stranger — an average-sizewhiteguy,maybethirty-something—appearsinthedoorway.He’sholding an overnight bag.Terry recognizes the bag instantly, it’s his, and he knows he keeps it inhisbedroombesidetwoloadedhandguns.Ifthismanhasthebag,Terryrealizes,he mustalsohavetheguns. There’s no time for the seemingly useless cell phone anymore. Terry Graham shouts at the man to put his hands up and get down. Instead, the man reaches into the bag. GrahamsnapsawarningtotheOsbornsthathemayhaveagun. Continued on page 78 34 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • MARCH/APRIL2010